prisoner of war
/ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nə əv ˈwɔː/
"prisoner-of-war" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prisoner of war” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | prisoner of war |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nə əv ˈwɔː/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “prisoner of war” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
prisoner of war is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nə əv ˈwɔː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for prisoner of war in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of French prisonnier de guerre, prisonier de guerre (obsolete). The correct English form is prisoner of war, spelled P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R- -O-F- -W-A-R.
Definition
- 1A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
Etymology
Calque of French prisonnier de guerre, prisonier de guerre (obsolete).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “prisoner of war”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R- -O-F- -W-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nə əv ˈwɔː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.